Most of us know the show Seinfeld. Some of us grew up with it. Some of us discovered it long after the last episode aired on May 14, 1998. Regardless of where we stand on the show, if you grew up in the US, you at least know the name. And if, by chance, you don’t know the name (which please tell me if you haven’t because I would be extremely curious how that could be) I guarantee you are familiar with at least a few of the isms that came out of it to become part of our pop culture history. Case in point…..the title of this section.
Believe it or not, the show was not an overnight success. In fact, the network originally only ordered 4 episodes after the pilot and it didn’t hold a time slot until Season 4 or 5. It was a show about nothing. And yet it was about everything!
A Sound Design Problem
I got to sit down with a very important member of that team, Jonathan Wolff, composer and theme writer extraordinaire. Jonathan wrote that iconic theme song that will forever go down in history with Seinfeld. In my opinion, it tied that show together with a bow. It was different from 80’s theme songs of the time. Which was a perfect fit for the show that no one really knew what to do with.
But Jonathan wasn’t hired from the beginning. He came in after the pilot as the original composer hired wasn’t quite “hitting the mark”. Jonathan was told that it was “a sound design problem.”
A Show About Nothing
Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David had a show that was to play off of the comedy stylings of Jerry Seinfeld. The show would open with one of his many monologues. It would then go on to play off the monologue and concluded with an ending monologue to bring it all home.
The theme needed to be catchy and recognizable but not “get in the way” of Jerry’s stand up material.
Jonathan, already a seasoned TV composer having written for over 75 primetime shows including Married With Children and Who’s the Boss, took on this project as a favor to his friend George Wallace. Seinfeld only had 4 episodes bought by the network and for some reason Jonathan took a chance.
However, by so doing, he was given a chance for himself.
A chance to create something… different.
Getting “Out Of The Pile”
Anyone who’s spent any time in Hollywood knows that creators can be seen as a dime a dozen. The 80’s were no different and even for Jonathan, a seasoned writer, he was constantly being passed up for jobs by other composers either more qualified or simply because they were the “flavor of the month”.
“In order to stand out, you had to be or do something different.”
Jonathan wanted to “get out of the pile”.
Sampling technology was in its infancy and Jonathan wanted to be on the forefront. With this opportunity of Seinfeld that had virtually no audience and little attention given to it by the network, he was able to experiment and use and do things that people weren’t experimenting with mainstream.
He was able to get out of that pile.
Something Different
He built the music around the quirky energy of New York and Jerry Seinfeld’s comedy. The organic nature of the city stylings helped to blend with Jerry’s speaking voice perfectly.
Slap bass, in the late 80’s, was not a solo instrument. It was buried in funk music. Jonathan decided to spotlight it making the bass the cornerstone to the Seinfeld sonic brand.
Every episode had a different monologue and so every episode’s music was slightly different each week. The theme had to be adapted and manipulated week by week to stay in time and in correct reference to each script and to Jerry’s lines and delivery. The bass line he created was very simplistic allowing the rhythm to be easily modified and manipulated to do just that.
Sitcoms were not integral and conversational at the time that Seinfeld was coming around. Seinfeld was different in that respect and so that’s probably one reason why it didn’t test well and it had no great numbers in ratings to speak of.
No Soup For You
There was very little push back on the music that Jonathan created. Generally, everyone liked it and let him be creative and explore. Larry and Jerry were sold from the beginning.
However, in renegotiations for a Season Two, the network had “some notes”. They didn’t like the music (they said it was annoying) and had all sorts of notes for casting and script and story (yada yada yada). Larry David was not happy with this.
When Jonathan said no problem to readjusting the theme, Larry’s eyes lit up and kicked Jonathan out of the meeting. Jonathan is pretty sure none of those notes were addressed and, obviously, the music remained the same.
Larry David was able to make the show how he wanted and Jonathan was able to write the music how he wanted.
“It was a Camelot era of being able to have certain freedoms.”
It’s A Hit!
Around Season 4 or 5, Seinfeld started to gain a following (and a time slot). Now there were all these backlogged episodes that no one or very few people had ever seen which secured their syndication package. This also made Jonathan Wolff “flavor of the month” for about 10 years.
This led to a long and fruitful composing career which included writing the theme song for other shows such as Saved By The Bell the College Years, Will and Grace, The Hughleys, and The New Mickey Mouse Club.
Sound and Music Matters
“Theme music is a first impression sales tool to help pitch a new show to an audience.”
Doesn’t that sound like something we’d want for our brand and company? To hook them before they hold our tangible object. To intrigue them before they even see the product. That’s power.
Take the Fresh Prince of Bel Air Theme Song for example. It had huge entertainment value but also was used as an informational tool to prepare the audience for what was to come. It literally tells the whole story of the show in under 2 minutes and it heightens your anticipation for watching the show that comes next.
The Cheers theme song welcomes you into the bar. It makes you feel at home and gives you a sense of belonging as the vocalist tells the story of how hard the day to day is. “Let’s just go have a beer with our friends.”
People hold the warm fuzzies for these themes. It keeps the show alive and enduring in their memories and creates conversation to re-explore the show years later and also to invite new audiences in to experience what they’ve experience it as well.
In Conclusion
No one can deny that sound and music in entertainment and pop culture hold value and power to consumer buying tendencies. So why are we still ignoring that power in our marketing strategy?
The theme comes first. It matters. It adds value. Your music logo comes first. It matters. It adds value. Music and sound matter and should be considered in any good marketing strategy. It shouldn’t just belong in the movies.
To catch the full podcast interview with Jonathan Wolff, check out Sound In Marketing’s Ep. 38 and Ep. 39.
To connect with Jonathan Wolff you can find him at SeinfeldMusicGuy.com
For more information on me and what I do, you can find me at Dreamrproductions.com, Linkedin, and Facebook. You can also check out my podcast Sound In Marketing where I talk about…all the things.
I’d love to help you on your sonic branding journey in any way I can so leave a comment, write a review, send me an email and let’s chat more!
Remember, we all make sounds. Let’s make them on purpose. Let’s make this world of sound more intriguing, more unique, and more and more on brand.
